1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to personal hygiene attachments for use with conventional toilet seats and more specifically to a perineal cleaning attachment that includes a nozzle for discharging a liquid spray wherein the nozzle is manipulated between a non-deployed position, beneath a toilet seat remote from the opening therein, to a deployed position, generally centrally of the toilet seat opening, by a hand operable fluid flow control valve that also functions as a handle for moving the nozzle. The attachment may be selectively mounted to be operable from either the left or right side of the toilet seat when in use and further includes a venturi member for dispensing cleaning and other topical body treatment agents into the liquid spray.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Conventional bidets are modified toilet structures that issue a stream of water for purposes of cleaning a person's perineum area. Bidets have had wide spread acceptance in Europe and other countries and are now growing in popularity in the United States with many new homes and commercial lodgings providing such units as part of the accessories in a finished bathroom. Due to the large number of conventional bathrooms that do not include a bidet, bidet attachments have been proposed to permit conventional toilets to function both in their intended capacity and also as bidets. To accomplish this, a number of bidet attachments have been designed that may be mounted to existing toilet seats. The attachments are connected as branch flow lines from the plumbing pipes that are normally connected to fill supply tanks associated with toilets. The attachments further include one or more nozzles that may be selectively pivoted from positions remote from the openings in the toilet seats to positions generally centrally aligned with the openings in the toilet seats. Valves are incorporated with conventional bidet attachments for controlling fluid discharge as desired.
Some bidet attachments are somewhat awkward in that they require one handle for moving the nozzle or nozzles and a separate and spaced valve for controlling fluid flow. Other attachments are designed to be mounted to one side of a toilet seat and are thus difficult to use by individuals whose primary hand, or perhaps, only hand, is opposite to the side of the toilet to which the handle of the bidet attachment is positioned.
In many situations, it may be necessary for a nurse or other care provider to control the movement and liquid flow from a nozzle of a bidet device, and the design and structure of many conventional bidet attachments for toilets is not suitable for such assisted use. In addition to the foregoing, most bidet attachments for use with conventional toilets do not provide any simple and economical manner of allowing the liquid flow from the attachments to be entrained with body cleansing or topical treating agents, which may be beneficial in many situations for the comfort and/or health care of an individual.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a attachment that may be easily and quickly mounted to either a left or right side of a conventional toilet seat to provide a controlled flow of liquid to be supplied to clean and or treat the perineum area of a person in such a manner that the control of liquid flow can be perform simultaneously with the movement of a spray nozzle associated with the attachment and wherein, cleansing agents, irritation reducing agents and other topically applied body treating agents may be easily introduced into the liquid supply stream without the need for complicated dispensers or feeder pumps and the like.